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Enigmatic Productions
2004-2005 In his junior year, Robert James had to step up and deliver films without the same colleagues he had had while heading R + R (Rest and Relaxation) Films. Enigmatic was almost completely "Robert James" at the beginning, on the school-related side of filming, and most of the assigned projects were complete at the beginning of the year. The first few films released early in the school year were effects shorts, demonstrating the basic skills of compositing and animating special visual effects. As such, only a few examples remain and most of those tests aren't available on any computer. His junior year did yield the year-long ongoing series The Little Tortilla Boy, named after a fake movie title from comic Pablo Francisco. The series spawned the four films that follow: #Little Tortilla Boy: SlapFight, in which the eponymous series protagonist is defeated in a game of deftness against a Nameless rival, played by Seagraves himself. The series modus operandi was that of a trailer for the said movie, revealing all the major plotpoints over the course of the trailer. The character trains his hands by way of montage, and re-challenges Nameless. He vanquishes him with his newfound strength and speed. #LTB 2: Little Tortilla Baller, in which LTB loses a brief basketball game against a taller, more skilled opponent. Again, LTB trains, and then beats the player and dunks, thoroughly trouncing him. #LTB 3: Foosball Fever! introduced Frank Miles, a brief contributer to Enigmatic, where the pair had to face Nameless (David Seagraves) in a foosball match. They ultimately beat him, once again ending Nameless' reign of dominance. #Little Tortilla Boy: The Movie, was the first installement in a proposed lightsaber series, and it demonstrated the elementary compositing skills of Robert James, and proved the most likable of the four. It was the first film of the group to actually make its way into classrooms other than Seagraves Theater Arts. There were other small features made, but the Little Tortilla Boy series emcompassed all of the class assigned projects, and was the reason many wanted to participate in making movies with Enigmatic Pictures, and Robert James himself. 2005-2006 At the very beginning of his Senior Year, Robert James had an idea to create a music video for the Fountains of Wayne song "Stacy's Mom", but he lacked the crew and cast necessary to complete it. He asked Julian Lyra, who had shown interest the previous year in Enigmatic's films, to be the other bandmember in the group, and got Gracie Malley to portray the love interest. On the day of the shoot, Sal De La Torre and Michael Mandarino happened to be at the play practice for Aida, a play Robert James was also a lead in, and wandered to the back of the building where Julian and RJ were filming. They were recruited as stand ins and cameramen, and provided the support the film needed, crew-wise. The next few months was spent in play practice, where Robert James was playing the same role in a three cast setup as Adam Stewart and Danny Castaneda. The three, through casual conversation, began to discuss the films RJ had made, and they expressed an interest in participating. Robert James felt, for the first time, that he had met creative equals, and plans were made for a music video to Banana Man, by Tally Hall, due to a mutual interest in the band. The movie was scheduled to be shot on January 4th, 2006, but it had been raining that day, and only Adam Stewart could make it to Robert James' house in the afternoon. Instead of the music video, they decided to make the first in what would later be the group's pattern of film production; an improv comedy short. Genesis was the result of the pair's collaborative film, and was an effects heavy comedic fight scene, ending with Adam's character asking to be put in one of Enigmatic's movies. On January 6th, 2006, the pair finally got to film with Danny Castaneda, and created the music video for Banana Man. Both films were released the next week, and there were rave reviews from students in every period of Theater Arts (as it was now standard procedure to show Robert James' Projects in every period as a way of demonstrating what every student could do with their film groups). The next few months was punctuated by a Lip Sync event, organized by David Seagraves, and all of the small crew participated, including the up-and-coming Sal De La Torre. So impressed were the Enigmatic triplets, that Sal was asked in a matter of days to participate in the next movie the group was putting together. The next project ultimately became the film Matrix Are For Kids, a matrix parody and a film where the only soundtracks were two songs; a Matrix Revolutions theme and Little Busters, by the Pillows. Another FX heavy film, it proved popular and futher solidified the collaborative friendship the now quartet shared. The next project was a trailer for the beloved 90s kids show "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", due to the universal love that they had for the original piece. On the day the film was released, it was shown in every theater arts class, but David Seagraves had apparently left the class in order to deal with an issue with the school's administrating. The beloved teacher's absence proved to be permanent, however, and Robert James never saw his mentor and friend again. The teacher was allegedly involved in an "Inappropriate Conduct" with a student, but charges were never filed, and no reports were made officially to either students or other teachers, though it came to light that (despite tenure) David Seagraves was summarily discharged from the high school as a teacher. A dismayed and despondant Robert James informed the group, after some brief in-fighting, that they would never display their videos in that class for the remainder of the year. The next video was a fan music video to OK Go's Don't Ask Me, and was done without Adam Stewart present at all. After a few minor disputes and a brief hiatus, the quartet returned during the summer of 2006 to create more films. Shooting began on another music video, but it wasn't complete until after the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year. 2006-2007 Within the first few weeks of the school year, Never Let You Go, by Third Eye Blind, was the first release by the group, and benchmarked the progress of the group with props and locations appropriate to a music video, including the newly renovated High School Stage. It proved a hit among the classes, and once again developed a kind of fame for the three still in High School. At the suggestion of a friend of the group's, Enigmatic was encouraged to put their videos on Youtube, and they did just that with most of the videos from the previous year, starting with Twilight Zone: A Light Read, Which was made just following Never Let You Go. An homage to the television series of the 1960s, it was a black-and-white feature, which also introduced Michael Mandarino as an actor who is the first to disappear. The feature made almost immediately after was Coral, a Halo-inspired fan film, which may or may not have been set in the video game's universe. It was made as an effects piece for the most part, though it did inspire future plans to create an actual Halo Fan Film. Coral was actually the last film to officially carry the Enigmatic Pictures logo, though the group still operated under the moniker on the Youtube channel; the Animatic was deemed unnecessary as a prefix to the youtube films online, due to the length and waning internet attention span. Spring and Summer 2007 This period proved to be a very busy time for the lads at Enigmatic, and features were released within the next 8 months at regular intervals. January saw the release of Childhood Obesity, a film really about nothing more than sadistic kids pelting a rotund child with candy while the child writhed and cried on the floor. This actually inspired Michael Mandarino, the star and victim, to create the sequel to this film on his youtube. It is considered canon, and plans are still in the works for a follow-up. February marked the release of Letting Him Down Easy, a mostly music film featuring a phone call from Sal De La Torre to a girl he liked, where the conversation turn a wrong turn based on a misunderstanding. It was written and performed entirely by Sal De La Torre, and was even performed on stage at the High School. The group met regularly, but didn't finish another short until Hostel: The Prequel was released on June 26th. It was a parody of the popular Hostel film, which depicted scenes of torture in gruesome detail. The parody was anything but, and was the first to feature Nick Atwell. After the comedic short Man From the Future, the group began an improv piece with Nick called Chops and Robbers, in which a bank manager is threatened with the death of one of his children if he didn't give up the security combinations. The manager asks the robbers to kill Timmy, his apparently unwanted child. Though negatively reviewed by youtube audiences, it was iconic to the Enigmatic lexicon, and is often the video shown most to the unititiated viewers. Fall 2007- Spring 2009 The final twilight years of Enigmatic also brought the most refined improvisational comedies from the group. Our Friend, Massimo was intended to poke fun at the absence of Adam Stewart in the group, due to his entering college, but it was a darker turn from the comedies of years previous. Most deaths had appeared off screen, previously, and this was a graphic death portrayed by Massimo being shot through the head by a high caliber bullet. Though hilarious and unexpected, it was a notable milestone for their collective humor, and a sign of the future, film-wise. The next feature was actually a thought-provoking piece directed and written entirely by Sal De La Torre, called VoiceMail. It began with the main character leaving a voicemail for a friend saying how upset the person had made the character through his actions and thoughts of suicide. The Main Character then goes through his day, very morosely, until the end shows him receiving a voicemail; the very same one he left earlier. The next project took place over many weeks, and ultimately became 1-19-09: Action Trailer. It was a huge effort from many individuals and acquaintances of the group's, including the first use of special fx make-up on the films. Sunday Drive was a short piece made about kidnapping, and was followed by the even more darkly colored Musical Chairs, filmed in Sal's garage. It was also the last movie to be made under the Enigmatic Pictures Youtube page, as it was renamed, and ultimately became, The Laughing Owl.